Taliban training camp in Myanmar?

Reports are making the round that the Taliban have recruited Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshis and Indonesian nationals and are training them in an undisclosed camp in Myanmar, according to a posting in an Urdu-language Internet forum, “Bab-e-Islam Jihadi.”

They call them “Rohingya Mujahideen”, with a note suggesting that the Pakistan Taliban has successfully established a jihadi unit.

Washington-based research institute “Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor” has found the material and translated the text. Images on the forum show combat training in Myanmar, but the camp’s exact location is not mentioned.

Other pictures reportedly show men with blurred faces, presumably high-ranking Taliban commanders, conducting the training, and 100 to 200 individuals in military fatigues taking part in a shooting practice.

One photo caption in Urdu says “This new jihadi force has entered Burma, Myanmar, under the leadership of Commander Abu Sufiya and Abu Arif.” The caption also claimed that the recruits recently destroyed two military combat vehicles of the Myanmar army, killing 17 soldiers.

It also claims the recruits beheaded three Buddhists — including a monk — who, it says, were responsible for slaying Muslims.

Reports are making the round that the Taliban have recruited Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshis and Indonesian nationals and are training them in an undisclosed camp in Myanmar, according to a posting in an Urdu-language Internet forum, “Bab-e-Islam Jihadi.”

They call them “Rohingya Mujahideen”, with a note suggesting that the Pakistan Taliban has successfully established a jihadi unit.

Washington-based research institute “Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor” has found the material and translated the text. Images on the forum show combat training in Myanmar, but the camp’s exact location is not mentioned.

Other pictures reportedly show men with blurred faces, presumably high-ranking Taliban commanders, conducting the training, and 100 to 200 individuals in military fatigues taking part in a shooting practice.

One photo caption in Urdu says “This new jihadi force has entered Burma, Myanmar, under the leadership of Commander Abu Sufiya and Abu Arif.” The caption also claimed that the recruits recently destroyed two military combat vehicles of the Myanmar army, killing 17 soldiers.

It also claims the recruits beheaded three Buddhists — including a monk — who, it says, were responsible for slaying Muslims.